Elon Musk bought Twitter, and now he’s rebranding it as X. Signs have gone up (and back down), icons are changing, and an old plan is new.
How’d we get here?
On April 4th, 2022, we learned that Musk had purchased enough shares of Twitter to become its largest individual shareholder. Eventually, he followed up with an unsolicited offer to buy 100 percent of Twitter’s shares for $54.20 each, or about $44 billion. Twitteraccepted Musk’s offer, but then things got weird because he tried to cancel the deal.
There was a lot of back-and-forth about bots and text messages, but in the end, Musk settled on buying the company rather than facing a deposition or Chancery Court trial and eventually strode into Twitter HQ carrying a sink.
Since then, there have been layoffs, more layoffs, and even more layoffs — plus drama over Substack, unpaid bills, and blue checkmarks. With ad revenue still down from previous years, Elon finally abdicated the role of CEO in May 2023, installing longtime NBCUniversal ad executive Linda Yaccarino.
Read on for the latest updates about what’s going on inside Twitter right now.
Dec 14, 2022
Mitchell Clark
Jack Dorsey on Musk’s Twitter files: ‘There’s nothing to hide’
Laura Normand / The Verge
Jack Dorsey has responded to Elon Musk’s purported exposé known as “The Twitter Files,” and he’s done so in an essay that’s mercifully not written as a Twitter thread. In it, the social network’s co-founder and former CEO says that he believes the company has nothing to hide, contrary to how the files have been presented. He also says he wishes the information had been “released Wikileaks-style,” and asks that the internet not go after Twitter employees for perceived slights. Of course, his article also promotes his own social networking protocol and Bitcoin.
Dorsey’s response comes after Elon Musk has spent over a week promoting five selective document releases known as the Twitter Files, which show internal documents, Slack logs, and emails around things like Twitter’s removal of Donald Trump following the January 6th riots, moderation “blacklists,” and how the site dealt with news about Hunter Biden’s laptop. The threads, and Musk’s promotion of them, have largely taken on a conspiratorial tone, painting the old Twitter leadership and employees as being in cahoots with the government to silence Twitter users.
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Dec 14, 2022
Richard Lawler
The New York Times reports Elon Musk’s personal lawyer no longer works for Twitter.
Since Elon Musk took over Twitter his personal lawyer and one-time The Hoop Collective podcast guest Alex Spiro — who defended him in the “pedo guy” trial — was leading legal and policy matters, but not anymore.
The NYT cites six people who said Musk was unhappy with some of Spiro’s moves, including holding over Twitter deputy general counsel James A. Baker. This became an issue when Musk apparently realized the former FBI lawyer was a part of reviewing the documents in his prized Twitter Files leak.
As a side note, the NYT reports Musk’s cost-cutting continues. More execs are out, the kitchen staff was laid off, items like office supplies and electronics are going up for auction and Musk isn’t paying the rent for its HQ, where some engineers sleep.
So, maybe consider tossing Elon the $8 for Blue? He might need it.
Musk Shakes Up Twitter’s Legal Team as He Looks to Cut More Costs
[The New York Times]
Dec 13, 2022
Nilay Patel
Whatever, I’m not a geologist.
Twitter’s new manual verification-and-labeling process is going just great, as the Norway’s Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have all been labeled “Nigeria government organization.”
Dec 12, 2022
Emma RothandMitchell Clark
Twitter Blue is back, letting you buy a blue checkmark again
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Elon Musk’s $8-per-month Twitter Blue subscription with verification is officially available, and you’ll need a verified phone number to sign up.
In a thread on Twitter, the platform notes that Blue will cost $11 per month if you sign up on iOS and will grant you access to the ability to edit tweets, upload 1080p videos, reader mode, and, of course, the coveted blue checkmark. If you paid for the old $4.99 / $2.99 Blue package, then you’ll need to subscribe again to keep its benefits, while anyone who signed up on Apple at the old $7.99 per month price will be automatically renewed at $11 per month unless they cancel.
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Dec 12, 2022
Nilay Patel
“Twitter isn’t real life” remains Biden’s position on social media.
Max Tani reports on Bidenworld’s reaction to Elon / Twitter for Semafor:
The disdain for Twitter inside the White House has little to do with right-wing control of the platform, and more to do with its role inside the Democratic Party: Biden’s wing sees Twitter as fuel for activist voices who push ingroup thinking, left-of-center bias, and socioeconomic bias.
Why The White House isn't stressed about Elon Musk's Twitter
[www.semafor.com]
Elon Musk booed at Dave Chappelle show, claims it was only like ‘10 percent boos’
Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
Elon Musk took a brief break from running multiple companies mired in drama to create a little more drama by appearing onstage with Dave Chappelle during his show Sunday night at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
During Chappelle’s set, the controversial comedian introduced the controversial billionaire, who came onstage to confused applause and booing. Musk proceeded to bomb harder than the time he appeared on SNL.
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Dec 12, 2022
Richard Lawler
The boos that cost $44 billion.
If you weren’t at the Dave Chappelle / Chris Rock comedy show in San Francisco on Sunday night, then you missed this event. Chappelle brought Elon Musk on stage, only for Twitter’s billionaire owner to receive so many boos he couldn’t get a word in edgewise.
Presumably, this isn’t the reception Musk usually gets on the 10th floor of the Twitter HQ from any of the software engineers who still work there.
Welcome to hell, Elon.
Dec 10, 2022
Emma Roth
Elon Musk’s $8 Twitter Blue subscription is coming back with phone number verification and a higher price on iOS
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Twitter’s relaunching its Blue subscription on Monday, one month after abandoning a chaotic first attempt that spurred hoax accounts and general mayhem.
As reported previously, the subscription will cost $8 per month to purchase on the web or $11 per month via the iOS App Store to make up for the up to 30 percent commission Apple takes off of in-app purchases. This time, anyone paying for Blue who wants to display a “verified” checkmark on their profile will need to register a phone number first, and changing your “handle, display name or profile photo” will remove the label until your account is reviewed again.
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Dec 10, 2022
Emma Roth
Elon Musk reportedly threatens to sue Twitter employees who leak information to the press.
An email obtained by Platformer’s Zoë Schiffer warns employees that Twitter will “immediately seek damages” if they violate their non-disclosure agreements.
According to Schiffer, Musk says employees will “get the response they deserve” if they send “detailed info to the media.” Musk is asking workers to sign a pledge indicating that they understand the policy, which they’re reportedly expected to return by the end of the day today.
Dec 10, 2022
Sean Hollister
Want to buy Twitter’s espresso machine? Bidding starts at $25.
Is Twitter liquidating its San Francisco kitchen? Seems so — I definitely remember seeing one of these @-sign planters last I was there, and I can’t imagine anyone else putting the bird on a soda machine. They’re auctioning off loads of those $5,000 Google Jamboards, TVs and office chairs too.
Before you ask, no, they’re not selling the sink. That level of delicious irony will have to wait.
Dec 9, 2022
Thomas Ricker
Get ready to grab that idle Twitter handle you’ve been eyeing.
Twitter has about 250 million active users on any given day, but six times as many accounts have no tweets or recent logins. I just hope Musk releases them “soon” as in Christmas, not “soon” as in a fully-autonomous vehicles.
Dec 9, 2022
Alex Heath
The Twitter checkmarks cometh.
Twitter is gearing up to relaunch its verification program as soon as tomorrow, though the release could be pushed to early next week, I’m told. The plan is for a total of three checkmarks: the paid Twitter Blue subscription for a blue check (existing, non-paid blue checks will lose them 90 days post-launch if they don’t pay), a grey check designated for government accounts and managed by Twitter, and a gold check for advertisers.
Based on what I’m hearing, Twitter is doing its best to avoid the impersonation fiasco that occurred after the brief rollout of paid verification before. This time, the plan is to temporarily remove an account’s blue check for seven days if the display name is changed. You’re welcome, Mario.
Dec 8, 2022
Thomas Ricker
Take a look inside Elon Musk’s Twitter “hotel.”
Don Draper did it long before Silicon Valley companies like Google turned sleeping at the office into a competition. Some see such dedication as misguided, others a badge of honor.
I’d occasionally sleep in our crummy NYC office when helping to launch The Verge. Twitter 2.0 is a luxury hotel, by comparison, with slippers, alarm clock, a wardrobe, and washing machine, according totheBBC.
Dec 7, 2022
Mitchell Clark
The last Moment for Twitter.
Twitter announced it’s getting rid of Moments, the curated collection of tweets that users could create, which originally launched in 2015. Existing Moments will be fine, but we won’t be seeing any new ones.
It seems likely this is another victim of Elon Musk’s desire to simplify the site, similar to how he cut the oft-amusing “tweeted from” labels, which have recently stopped appearing for most users.
Dec 5, 2022
Justine Calma
Climate misinformation explodes on Twitter
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Lies about climate change on Twitter escalated to unprecedented levels this year, according to new analyses. The unnerving rise of content that rejects widely accepted climate science —sometimes referred to as climate skepticism or climate denial — piles on top of growing concerns about misinformation and hateful content that’s proliferated since Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform.
There have been more tweets and retweets “using climate-sceptic terminology” in 2022 than in any other year since Twitter’s founding in 2006, according to analysis conducted for The Times by City, University of London researchers. That’s 850,000 climate-skeptic tweets or retweetsthis year compared to 650,000 in 2021 and 220,000 in 2020.
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Dec 4, 2022
Emma Roth
Twitter’s getting two of its biggest advertisers back.
After claiming that Apple “mostly stopped” advertising on the platform last week, Elon Musk said during a Twitter Space on Saturday that the company has “fully resumed” advertising on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Platformer’s Zoë Schiffer reports that Amazon’s planning to bring ads back to Twitter — to the tune of $100 million per year — “pending some security tweaks to the company’s ad platform.”
Dec 3, 2022
Emma Roth
Twitter’s relying more heavily on automation to keep the platform safe.
Ella Irwin, Twitter’s vice president of trust and safety, told Reuters that the platform has gotten rid of some manual review processes when it comes to content moderation.
After Elon Musk took over Twitter, he cut half of Twitter’s staff, including 15 percent of its trust and safety team. Irwin said the layoffs have no effect on Twitter’s ability to moderate content, and that the company has already removed 44,000 accounts in violation of Twitter’s child safety policies.
Dec 3, 2022
Jacob Kastrenakes
Elon Musk’s promised Twitter exposé on the Hunter Biden story is a flop that doxxed multiple people
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Free-speech crusader Elon Musk isn’t happy with Twitter’s years-old decision to suppress a news story about Hunter Biden’s laptop just ahead of the 2020 presidential election. So in an effort “to restore public trust” in Twitter, Musk indicated last month that he would release internal communications showing how it all went down.
That arrived Friday night in the form of a lengthy and arduously slow tweet thread (it took a full two hours to complete) from journalist Matt Taibbi, who Musk appears to have leaked the documents to and coordinated for his findings to be posted to Twitter.
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Dec 2, 2022
Richard Lawler
Now Elon Musk says he’ll publish details on “Hunter Biden story suppression.”
At 5PM ET.
On a Friday.
On Twitter.
With a “live Q&A.”
Dec 2, 2022
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elon Musk is Elon Musk-pilled
Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge
Programming note: This will be the last This Week in Elon this year. In 2023, I will return with something delightful for you that is not just about Musk shenanigans —but we will have occasional chats when there is too much Elonning going on.
Generally, I don’t think rich people believe anything besides: (1) they are basically good; (2) they deserve their money and no one should take it; and (3) anything that threatens ideas (1) and (2) is bad. Everything else is pretty flexible.
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Dec 1, 2022
Mitchell Clark
Tweets may be getting a view counter.
Elon Musk tweeted on Thursday that Twitter will start showing a view count for tweets like it does for videos.
That data has already been available for the person who wrote the tweet via the analytics button, but it seems like the plan is to make that info publicly available.
It’s unclear when this will actually roll out, but I’ll be sure to delete all my zero-view tweets before then.
Nov 30, 2022
Jay Peters
Elon Musk says Tim Cook told him Apple ‘never considered’ removing Twitter
Kristen Radtke / The Verge; Getty Images
After a conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook, Elon Musk now says that Apple actually wasn’t threatening to pull Twitter from the App Store. On Monday, Musk claimed that Apple had “threatened to withhold Twitter” from the store, but according to a Wednesday afternoon tweet, Musk said it was a “misunderstanding” and that “Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”
The clarification follows a cryptic tweet earlier in the day where Musk said Cook had given him a tour of Apple’s campus. In a video, you can see a shadow of two people: Musk and someone else that resembles Cook.
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Nov 30, 2022
Adi RobertsonandMakena Kelly
Elon Musk is dragging Apple into the culture wars
Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge
When Fortnite maker Epic launched a war against the “Apple tax” in 2020, it began by throwing a cartoon hammer at Apple’s face. Epic’s main goal was launching an antitrust lawsuit against the iOS App Store, aiming to shut down its 30 percent fee on in-app purchases. But as it forced Apple’s hand by adding its own payment system for Fortnite, it invoked a moral attack. It debuted a #FreeFortnite campaign that parodied Apple’s famous “1984” ad and positioned the iPhone maker as a stodgy, overbearing monopolist — as IGN would later write, in a play that “weaponized Fortnite fans against Apple.”
Now, Elon Musk is throwing his own hammer at Apple. And its name is Ron DeSantis.
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Nov 30, 2022
Jay Peters
Elon Musk is delaying Twitter’s paid verification to avoid Apple’s 30 percent cut
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Twitter’s revamped Blue subscription might not be available as an in-app purchase on iOS when it eventually relaunches so that it can dodge Apple’s 30 percent cut of App Store purchases, according to Platformer. When the new Blue was briefly available earlier this month, you could only purchase it through Twitter’s iOS app. But while Elon Musk is publicly tweeting his displeasure with Apple, it appears he wants to avoid having to pay Apple’s fees.
Musk had said that the new Blue, which allows people to purchase a blue verification check mark, was set to relaunch on Tuesday after signups were paused following a wave of impersonators. But that launch has been delayed, Platformer says, and The Verge has also heard of the delay from a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Twitter employees have been told that there will be other changes to Blue, including a one-cent price increase from $7.99 to $8 and requiring phone number verification, Platformer reports.
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Nov 29, 2022
Thomas Ricker
Twitter’s “Big Bang” to reinstate 62,000 suspended accounts.
Verge alum Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton with another Platformer scoop. It’s supposedly starting this week, according to Elon Musk.
